Ray and I have worked our little tushes to the bone today going through our estate inventory and assessing, organizing and making the tough decision of what to sell versus what to donate. We have handled five estates this past year and there inevitably are pieces that simply haven’t sold or will not sell anytime…
Author: lenleatherwood
I am a native Texan who has lived for the past 30 years in Southern California. I am a published author of both short memoir and fiction, a two-time Pushcart nominee, a nationally award-winning writing coach, an editor, as well as a Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of Texas. In addition, I am the mother of three grown daughters of whom I am extremely proud, a grandmother of four darling children and the wife of a man I still love after 44 years.
Heading Up Ventura Highway
Ray and I are on our way to Ojai. We need to work there tomorrow related to our estate business so we are heading up this evening. It is supposed to get down to 51 degrees there tonight, so we both felt that to miss those cool temperatures would be a shame after all the…
Information on Mass Murders
I was surprised to see the strong reaction that my post generated last night on what we are not doing to prevent mass murders in the U.S. Please take the time to read the comments. They are well thought-out and provide new perspective on the debate. I believe we all agreed that more mental health…
What We Are NOT Doing
Dear folks, We need to look long and hard at what is happening in our society related to firearms and teenage boys. We have a serious problem on our hands and these mass murders are getting far too commonplace to be considered an aberration. In the most recent case in Oregon, news reports state the…
Art of the Personal Essay
I visited the Beverly Hills library yesterday and found this book by Phillip Lopate, who is considered one of the top American essayist of our time. This is an anthology of wonderful essays spanning from ancient times to the present with writers as varied as Seneca to Joan Didion. I love the form of the…
Feeling Heartened
I am in Week Two of my “Writing Short” class that I am teaching for Story Circle Network and I just have to say how much I am enjoying this experience. I have taught this class many times over these past several years and each time, there is a wonderful coming together of personalities and…
Back to Pottery Class at the Barnsdall
We went to our pottery class today at the Barnsdall Art Center in Hollywood. Ray, Liz and I are taking this class for the second time. It lasts 10 weeks and is 3 hours every Tuesday night. The best deal in town since for a senior (62 and above) the cost is $90 + $50…
A Lovely Time Together
Back to LA after less than 24 hours in Ojai and only a couple of hours at the beach, and yet this quick trip felt as restful as a week away to anywhere else. Such is the power of the Ojai orange grove and a magical little piece of beach in Ventura called “Surfers’ Point.”…
Ojai with Our Welsh Friends
We are up in Ojai this evening with Jan and Rich Davies, the sister-in law and brother of our friend and priest, Ian. Our other guest is our granddaughter, Luna. We watched the solar eclipse, cooked chicken over the fire and enjoyed the peacefulness of the Orange grove. Here is a picture: Lots of fun!
The Gifts I Receive
Today we had our Breakfast Club at St. Thomas the Apostle in Hollywood. We had our usual patrons, and our usual fare of homemade goodies, ranging from cheesy potatoes to bread pudding. I went out and sat at a table for a while with our diners. One of the homeless women came up with a…
20 Minutes a Day 